Beginning with Richard Pryor in 1998, the Kennedy
Center has saluted "people who have had an impact on American society
in ways similar to the distinguished 19th century novelist and
essayist." TV vet Carl Reiner – who received this
prize in 1999 – is
credited with introducing Bill Cosby to TV audiences in 1962.

Bill Cosby went on to win four consecutive Emmy Awards in the 1960s. The first
three were as lead actor in a drama series for "I Spy" from 1966 to
1968, and the fourth came in 1969 for his self-titled special. Cosby
was the first African American actor to contend at the Emmys for a
regular role in a drama series.

In 1969 he returned to serial TV with the sitcom "The Bill Cosby Show." The following spring, Cosby and "Room 222" star Lloyd Haynes were the first African American actors nominated for a regular role in a comedy series. They lost to William Windom, star of "My World and Welcome to It," which also bested both their shows for best comedy series.

Bill Cosby never competed at the Emmy Awards again. After his
triumphant return to television in 1984 with the smash hit "The Cosby
Show," he would have been a shoo-in to become the first African
American actor to win an Emmy for a leading role in a comedy series.

Instead, Robert Guillaume – who in 1979 had been
the first African American actor to win the supporting comedy series
Emmy for his work on "Soap" – won the lead award for his fifth nod as
the same character in the spin-off "Benson."